Houston, Texas - NASA

I've been meaning to post this blog for a long time now, but I just didn't get around to it 'till now.

The "2nd" part of our Houston trip (well... 4 hours of the last day spent there really) was a trip to the Johnson Space Center, aka NASA!!

Jay and I had a blast touring the whole museum as well as going on the tram tour to historic mission control and various training centers on the base.





The highlight for me was indeed mission control. We toured there merely and hour before docking proceedures were to commence for the space shuttle that flew up on Friday (2 days earlier) to swap out one person at the international space station.





Speaking of the international space station. They have a training layout in a building there of every single piece of equipment up there. Obviously it isn't laid out exactly how it would appear in space, because they have to lay it out flat on Earth. But they do this so that when they take up new equipment to the station itself they can practice beforehand (and make sure it fits right, etc.).
This is the training space station building (don't remember the real name) where that all happens.















This is the arm on the shuttle that the astronauts use to manuver large/heavy objects around outside the space station for building/maintenance procedures. On earth it can't lift anything heavier than a balloon filled with air, but in space it can manuver the entire station itself (one piece at a time).

Going into the building with the "Saturn 5" rocket (that they flew to the moon in the Apollo Missions) on loan to the Johnson Space Center from the Smithsonian.










My favorite mission story:

This was my birthday present to Jay (and half-birthday present to myself - considering our birthday's are each other's half-birdays).

We had a lot of fun browsing the gift shop afterward and I bought a really cute white sweat-shirt-ish kind of a thing with the NASA logo on it. I also bought a picture of us just before going on the tour (they are required to take photographs of every person who sets foot on the base for security reasons).

Crazy 8's

I've been tagged!

Here goes:

8 TV shows I enjoy watching when I have time and would like to chill:
1. Simpsons
2. 24
3. What Not to Wear (although I don't get cable/satelite)
4. Are You Smarter than a 5th grader?
5. Grey's Anatomy (I haven't been watching since the 3rd season though...)
6. The Price is Right (I miss Bob Barker)
7. King of the Hill
8. Family Guy

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Got to work @ 6:30am
2. Ate chicken noodle soup for lunch
3. Worked an 11 hour day
4. Made plans to do the laundry when I got home (didn't happen though)
5. Watched the end of a Simpson's episode
6. Helped make macaroni & cheese for dinner
7. Went to my visiting teacher's condo with my husband for FHE/Visiting Teaching with 3 other couples
8. Had a diet rootbeer float

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. Going to the cabin after Christmas with my family!! - Ditto to my sister
2. My first slumber party as a distributor
3. Lunch today - Chicken noodle soup again (it's home-made)
4. Thanksgiving down in Orem with my grandma and 2 aunts, uncles & cousins
5. Having a baby (at some point - still not pregnant don't freak out)
6. Putting up my little Christmas tree with all the cute decorations I bought last year
7. New Years day, day after New Years, and the weekend with my grandparents in Heyburn.
8. Christmas Present Shopping (honestly the only type of shopping I actually enjoy)

8 things I love about fall:
1. The smell of it
2. Indian summer days - ditto to my sister
3. My craftiness kicks in and I make stuff
4. Snow (yes it comes in the fall)
5. Thanksgiving (especially the dark meat Turkey parts of it and the giblets)
6. Having my husband not disagree to the layers of blankets on our bed
7. Hot Chocolate is easier to find in the stores (in multiple flavors)
8. Matching scarves, gloves & hats

8 things on my wish list:
1. Pedicure & Manicure at a high-end salon (not one of those cheap, typically Asian-run places in the mall)
2. A working printer
3. Internet @ home
4. A laptop case of my choosing (I want a hard case, but I don't want it looking like a briefcase - although the functionality of a briefcase would do me well)
5. A white saphire pendant with two stones (pretty much identical to the fake one I lost)
6. Several cute pencil skirts
7. A new winter coat
8. A professional massage

8 people I am tagging:
1. Jay Christopherson
2. James Buckner
3. Stephanie Buckner
4. Meagan Gerrard
5. Justin Gerrard
6. Kenny McLean
7. Loalyn Hellewell
8. Jasen Pollock
(If you don't have a blog and/or a gmail account you could always e-mail me @ KrysinEChristopherson@gmail.com and I'll post yours in my comments)

Houston, TX - The wedding

This past weekend flew past in a blur...
Jay and I flew to Houston, TX on Friday for his little brother Matt's wedding.
We arrived in Houston, picked up our rental car, and immediately got on the highway right in the middle of rush hour (or maybe the highways are always that crowded?).
We found out over the course of our trip that the highways there are almost always busy, but during usual rush hour traffic times they are more than packed!
That's ok though, we rented a Garmin GPS navigation system for in our car so we didn't have to struggle with looking down at a map while driving around. Actually, Jay did all of the driving seeing as I'm not 25 yet and couldn't drive our rental car without paying a super-high price on top of what we were already paying.
Friday night we went out to a barbeque place for the rehearsal dinner, met Michelle's family and had fun in general just hanging out and talking to everyone there.

Saturday morning was the wedding, and it was absolutely beautiful. They were sealed for all time and eternity in the Houston, TX temple. Jay was their best man and Michelle had two of her friends, one of her cousins, and Lindsay (our sister in-law) as her brides maids.






After the ceremony Michelle and Matt both went into the visitor's room where her parents were waiting (Michelle is a convert to the church) and had a beautiful moment filled with tears and hugs all around. It really was a beautiful morning.




















The reception that day was at the church where Michelle's parents attend in the heart of the city. They did a short ring ceremony for all her family and friends to be able to witness, and of course, did all the other traditional wedding stuff (with the exception of a garter toss).










We all bid them farewell as they drove off into the sunset (well, actually into rush hour traffic) on their way to Dallas. They are currently on their honeymoon in San Diego, CA visiting Sea World and various other things that the "San Diego City Card" gets them in to for free.








This Friday will be an open house at the Belleview building in Littleton, CO for all of Matt's friends and family to attend. Sadly Jay and I will not be able to go due to my lack of vacation time this year, but we'll see them again at some point. After all, they're in my family!